So it’s finally the weekend and you are at the boat , readyfor another relief from the daily stress and grind. Then you find that youstart your boat and it’s not charging and you say to yourself, “that darnalternator”!
Here is my story that I am confident will help fellowboaters lose less sleep and understand their pride and joy much better.
I currently own a Hunter 50 sailboat that has a Yanmar 110HPengine that came from the factory with an Electro-Maax alternator. I wasunaware that Hunter had made this switch from the previous manufacturer but Iwas told this one is much better. Yea, right…The first week in the water wewent through an alternator belt, so the dealer installs another alternatorbelt. This one lasted 2 weeks. So the dealer wants to replace the alternator asthat “must” be the problem! In the meantime I made a call to the folks atElectro-Maax. I explained the issue and right away they knew the problem. Sincetheir alternator’s output was much higher than the previous manufacturer, theamount of torques placed on a single “V” belt was more than the belt couldhandle. Solution-install serpentine beltwith serpentine pulleys. John from Electro-Maax sent out the new parts straightaway. Parts were a direct fit with no adjustments needed. Start the engine,full output and no belt slippage whatsoever! In fact John told me that theyrecommended to Hunter, that on this size boat with this size alternator, theserpentine items should be standard. I believe that they are now.
This all happened over 3 years ago and the alternator hasperformed flawlessly. UNTIL -a few weeks ago when the alternator stoppedcharging all together, zero amps. Once again, “that darn alternator”! I let theservice people know at my marina and they told me that the alternator needed tobe replaced. So before they could replace, I asked to have it tested to makesure that it was indeed not charging. In the meantime, I called John again fromElectro-Maax. John and I have started to get to know each other a bit from theboat shows and he is ALWAYS willing to assist in any projects. He is a pleasureto speak with and has no problem offering his expertise. So I tell him thealternator is not charging, he tells me to look at the alternator and “smell”the alternator. If the windings are still copper colored and the alternatordoes not smell “burnt”, the problem is NOT the alternator. Meantime my servicepeople are getting ready to replace the alternator. So the copper looked like copper and thealternator did not smell burnt. I phone John and tell him this, he states thatit must be a bad battery, connection etc. and then he recalls that there was aHunter 50 at the Annapolis boat show that also stopped charging. He and thedealer swapped out the alternator and guess what? It still was not charging!There are a couple of fuses located behind the panel where the battery switchis located and one of them was blown. (Picture provided). If the alternatorcannot see the voltage of the batteries, it does not know to charge or not tocharge. They replaced the fuse and the alternator started to charge again, Johnwas right, alternator was not the problem. So John shares this story with meand I advise the service person to check the fuses. He takes the panel off andthe fuses are both good(there are two and they are called terminal fusesavailable at West Marine). Located rightnext to the fuses is the battery switch and guess what? When he touched theback of the switch (you know that big red heavy duty dial that you turn), itliterally fell apart in his hand! He replaced the battery switch and guesswhat????? That darn alternator started to charge once again!!
Fellow boaters, please take the time to check everything! Analternator just does not go bad, especially when it is only 3 years old. In mycase it was a switch that the service guy has NEVER seen fall apart like that,but it did. The alternator did not know if the batteries needed charging or notas it could not see the voltage so it did not charge to prevent any damage. Hopefullyyou enjoyed my story and it will help some of you in the future, when in doubt,don’t condemn, test, test, TEST! Don’tbe afraid to pick up the phone and speak with John at Electro-Maax, they areglad to help and if is an alternator you need, they supply the best out there.
